


Is this Love real?

by Shadowinflame



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bittersweet, Coughing, Dream struggles with his emotions, Dreamtale Sans | Dream (Undertale), Hanahaki Disease, Hugs, Ink is confused, Inktale Sans (Undertale), Inktale Sans/Dreamtale Sans | Dream (Undertale), M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Reaper is just there because someone has to explain the disease to the beans, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23333839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowinflame/pseuds/Shadowinflame
Summary: The first time they heard of Hanahaki disease Ink laughed it off. He has no soul, so why worry. He doesn't even know what exactly he feels for Dream. But as the coughing started, he was really unsure, what to make of his newest discovery.
Relationships: Dream/Ink, Sans/Sans (Undertale), drink - Relationship
Comments: 9
Kudos: 55





	Is this Love real?

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work posted here, be kind please?  
> Also no beta, we die like men! (I guess?)  
> Is this an Undertale work in 2020? Yes, it is!  
> I'm back to beeing Undertale trash and tought I might actually submit to the fandom, because why not? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.

The first time they learned about the disease, Ink and Dream were just out for some icecream in one of the many AUs.  
They were casually chilling on a bench when they saw someone bent over in pain and chough up flowers and blood. Some people looked but nobody came to help. And then they felt Reapers presence.

"What just happened?", Dream asked confused by all the emotions that person felt before they died. "I felt love and sadness equally and then they just ... died."  
"Gotta say I've seen a lot in the multiverse by now, but this is new even to me", Ink admitted.  
"Hanahaki disease", Reaper said bluntly, flinging himself down on the bench next to Dream. "It's the most stupid shit ever. Comes from unrequited love... or if you think someone doesn't love you back. Flowers star to bloom in their soul and take over more of the body with time. So you cough them up, that's the body's natural reaction. The disease stops if you stop loving whoever you fell for. Since that's highly unlikely, there's also a surgery that can be done. Only problem is, that with the surgery, there's a chance of 87,4% to loose the feelings towards the other person. And there's the problem. Even if it's unrequited love, the people would rather die from this disease than give up their feelings. Makes my job harder, unnecessarily."  
"so it's a physical manifestation of someone's emotional distress...", Dream thought out loud. "That's really sad..."  
"Punishment for loving someone you can't have...", Ink looked up at the sky. "What a stupid way to die. Heh, the multiverse certainly is full of weird things", Ink laughed.  
"Hey, don't poke fun at peoples feelings like that!", Dream said. Ink just shrugged it off.  
Reaper looked at his phone before excusing himself, leaving to stars know where.  
Ink and Dream finished their icecream before going separate ways again.

Ink had realised that he was feeling _something_ for Dream. It was _weird_ and completely _different_ from the usual emotions he got from his paints. He brushed it off as it was probably just the influence of Dreams aura. 

...At least, that's what he kept telling himself until he coughed up the first petal. Glowing beautifully yellow, just like Dream. He looked at it and laughed. He didn't even have a soul, so where was this shit coming from? Should he tell Dream? No, the positive guardian had to many troubles as it was. Better get rid of the disease in its early stadium! But then again... it was nice, knowing that, what he felt towards Dream was real. Maybe he would keep it just a little longer... it's not like he would die from this, no soul and everything.

It really wasn't too bad. A petal every now and then... he started keeping them in one of his artbooks as they reminded him of Dream. Knowing that he felt actual love made him see Dream with different eyes. Not that he would let that show trough how he treated him. He just used every excuse he could make to spend more time with Dream – and with this feeling.  
Inviting him over more often when they had free time, getting hurt on purpose just so Dream would heal him and stay a little longer. It was nice.  
Like tumbling down the stairs in the morning to the smell of pancakes. Dream had stayed the night.  
"Goood Morning Dreeeaam", Ink exclaimed cheerfully, plopping down into his chair at the coffee table. He liked the warm feeling he had while looking at Dream.  
"Have you been overdosing on yellow or something lately?", Dream asked as he carried two plates of pancakes into the living area. "As much as I appreciate the positive emotions I'm a little worried about your balance." Dream looked him up and down concerned before sitting down on the sofa.  
"What do you mean?", Ink asked trough bites of pancake. "I'm just the same as always! Taking my paints just as prescribed by my lovely Doctor Dream! Also, your pancakes are AMAZING!"  
"Ink..." Even though it sounded like Ink was trying to hide something, Dream couldn't feel anything but positive emotions from the creator. ONLY overly positive emotions. And that had him worried.  
_You're hiding something..._  
"So, what would you think if we visit good old Blueberry after breakfast?", Ink suggested.  
_Spending more time with him might help me find out what he's hiding_ , Dream thought.  
"Sure, haven't visited him in quite some time", Dream agreed.  
And so they went off.

As soon as they arrived in Underswap Dream knew there just had to be something he forgot.  
"I'll get some icecream and stuff for us, you can go on ahead already. Blue's probably still training with Alphys anyway", he said to Ink, who nodded and went on ahead.  
As much as Dream wanted to monitor Ink, he couldn't just show up to his friend empty handed after such a long time.

Ink was just entering Waterfall when it happened.  
_Just another petal_ , he thought to himself, but teleported back to the doodlesphere anyway. He can't risk anyone seeing him like this. In the end, he was happy he didn't stay there.  
It was _bad_ , it _hurt_ , it took _all his energy_ and yet... he couldn't get himself to throw away the beautiful, yellow glowing flower he coughed up. Resembling Dream in so many ways it hurt even worse to look at it, yet it also filled him with this weird warmth and all the other feelings he shouldn't have. He lay on the ground for long enough to get a message on his phone. Dream.  
He remembered. He was supposed to be in Underswap. But... he couldn't get himself to move. Everything just hurt. So he tipped a quick message to Dream.  
_Sorry, had to leave early on a call from an AU. Error again... Meet me in Outertale later? Bring Blue if you want._  
That should do it.  
He didn't know how long he lay there. He just waited for the pain to subside. And then put the flower in a vase on his bedside table.  
It was getting worse.  
How much longer would he do this? He undressed in front of his mirror. There where vines around his chest by now. Woven in a weird form of art together with his sprinkled bones.  
It was bad, he knew it.  
...But it wasn't unbearable yet. Just a little longer – he really didn't want to loose this feeling.  
Just maybe... he would ask Dream something. If he came to Outertale alone, that is.  
And so he waited in Outertale.

Dream came alone.  
And wasn't sure what to make of the mixed emotions he felt from Ink. There was that warm feeling he had for a long time now, but there was a certain unease around him. That was knew.  
"Dream", Ink almost whispered, not turning around. He just stood there, staring at the stars.  
"Ink? Is there something wrong?", Dream moved next to his freind and looked at Inks face. "If this is about this morning, I explained it to Blue and he understood. He's not mad at you! He just had planes for the evening."  
"That's good", Ink hummed. Then he turned to Dream. "Dream, I love you."  
"You, what now? Th-that's a little ... sudden", Dream blushed a little. As much as he wanted this, he knew it wasn't possible. Ink had to realise it too. "Y-you're probably just confused Ink. That's alright, my aura does weird things to people. Maybe I should just keep my distance from you for a while." It hurt him to say this, he really enjoyed the time with Ink. Being with the creator almost made him forget the side effects of his aura ... and the others soullessness. But this was just wrong.  
Even though Ink was prepared for this, it hit him like a freight train. It hurt, even though it really shouldn't. One last try.  
"I know for a fact, that what I'm feeling is real, Dream, just believe me."  
Dream had to fight back his tears. As much as he just wanted to hug the other and give in to the feelings he had to suppress so long, this was just wrong!  
"I-I'm sorry, Ink", he turned away and started walking a little. "Was this all you wanted to say?"  
Ink looked at the ground, mumbling a silent "Yes."  
"Then I'll leave now. To give you a break. Only call me if you really need me, ok? I'll always be there for you, never forget that."  
And he left. Ink stood at that very spot in Outertale for a long time before he went back home that night.

And that should've really been it. He should just have gone to get ride of the flowers.  
But he couldn't. The thought of the feeling being _real_ and not something artificial his paint made him feel was just so _soothing_. It made him cling to it for dear life.  
It's been a week and Dream still told him to take it easy with their meetings. By now Inks room was filled with yellow flowers. He kept all of them.  
He knew he had to get rid of the disease eventually but ... he was just so afraid of _not feeling._

He never intended to tell Dream.  
And yet, everything went so fast.  
As it all came down at once.

Ink got the message of Nightmares whole gang in one AU. He couldn't do this on his one. So he wrote Dream.  
They arrived there at the same time, gave each other a brief look and sprinted into battle.  
Everything seemed to go as planned. Ink was keeping Horror, Dust and Killer busy while Dream had his own show off with his brother.  
And in the blink of an eye everything turned sideways.  
Ink was just dodging some bones and knifes as he noticed it was coming. He jumped back as his coughing started and with a last look at Dream he disappeared in an ink puddle. Hopefully Dream would get out there in time.

Dream heard Ink coughing and saw him leave in an ink puddle shortly after. Overcome with concern for the creator he immobilized Nightmare with his arrows and used the confusion of the others to disappear in a portal of his own.  
He heard Ink coughing in his own room and ran upstairs. He trew the door open without knocking.  
"Ink, wha-", he was silenced as he saw the other on the floor writhing in pain as he coughed up a yellow flower covered in ink.  
"Dream", the other almost whispered, exhaustion heavy in his voice. "I'm sorry, I'll fix this, don't worry."  
Dreams mind was racing as he added one and one together. The coughing, the flowers, _Inks confession_. Tears welled up in his eyes as he kneeled down to hug Ink. Of course this had to happen to him. If it wasn't cruel enough to make him fall for the only emotionless being he knew, now he knew that he was actually loved back, but it couldn't last. Ink had to get rid of the flowers.  
"You weren't lying", Dream cried.  
"Told you I wasn't", Ink said, softly caressing the others cheeks. "Try again?", he asked.  
Dream looked at him confused.  
"Dream, I love you", Ink whispered.  
"I love you too, stars I loved you for so long Ink", Dream cried. "And I thought you would never... and then I cursed you with these flowers. Why..."  
"Hey, don't worry, Dream. I like them. They reminded me of you. Feeling something real was a nice change for a while too"  
Dream looked around the room plastered in yellow flowers and blushed slightly. Only to cry more.  
"You seriously kept them even though they hurt you..."  
"And you were hurting just the same keeping your feelings to yourself. It could have hit you just the same."  
"Wouldn't that have been better? I could have gotten rid of my feelings without hurting anyone. Ink, you're soulless!"  
_I never meant to hurt you like this._ The thought was heavy in both their minds, yet they didn't dare say it out loud and so silence filled the room.  
Until Dream spoke up again.  
"How does it look?", he asked.  
Ink was a little confused but then realised that Dream probably wanted to see the mess that was his chest. So Ink got out of his shirt.  
Dreams hands ghosted over Inks chest, then stopped at the place where a soul should usually be. A golden flower bloomed under Inks ribs.  
"Is that to ... replace your soul?", Dream asked, mor to himself.  
"Maybe... I seriously don't know."  
Silence. After a short pause, Dream spoke again.  
"We should get rid of it", he stood up and held a hand out to Ink.  
"I don't want to stop feeling this", Ink said, taking Dreams hand.  
"It'll be troublesome if you can't fight like this."  
"But Dream, I might not feel the same after..."  
"Ink, I lived all these years in denial of my feelings for you, so even if we'll never be anything but comrades protecting the AUs together, I'll be fine! Don't worry about me please", Dream smiled trough his tears.  
"Think about yourself once...", Ink mumbled.  
"This is not the right situation for selfishness and you now it!"  
Ink stared down at the flower he was still holding. "I'm sorry Dream."  
"I'll take you to Sci."  
"What? Why? Now?"  
"Only one who might actually know how to get a disease you need a soul for out of a soulless being... And you need to be cured as fast as possible."  
Ink wanted to protest but he was pulled through a portal before he could say anything.

"Sci, we need your help", Dream said as soon as they arrived, only a few steps behind said skeleton.  
"Oh, Dream, I wasn't expecting you to-", Sci started while turning around. "-day, uh..."  
At the stare he got from Sci Ink realised he was still shirtless. Well that saved them the explaining.  
"You're the only one I could think of to help this soulless idiot who managed to get Hanahaki anyway", Dream explained.  
"Well, this is interesting indeed", Sci mumbled more to himself. At the look he got from Dream he quickly added: "I'll fix this, no worries. Might just take some time..."  
"Good", Dream sighed. "I'll leave you to it then", Dream said, already on the leave.  
"Wait, Dream!", Ink said, holding on to Dreams gloves. Dream turned around again and looking him in the eyes Ink said: "Be there when I wake up?"  
"Ink, there's..."  
"12,6% I'm betting on, Dream."  
"Don't make this harder on any of us please."  
Ink let go of Dream at that and the latter opened a portal.  
Looking back on last time he said: "Sci, call me when you're done here", he turned towards his portal and while walking through he whispered: "I'll be there."

Dream sat down in the Waterfall area of a random AU. He was left alone with his thoughts as long as Sci did stars know what to Ink.  
No matter the outcome, their relationship would change, even if he didn't want it to happen. He would be back to pretending, but he was used to that. Or it would be a completely knew experience for both of them. But the chance was so slim, he didn't want to linger on the thought of a happy end.  
As the guardian of positive feelings, he brought happiness to others, yet it seems to avoid him. Fake smiles and pretended happiness were what got him this far. His own stupidity had taken his brother first and might just take his best friend and secret love now.  
Dream told himself not to drown in sadness and self-pity, so he opened a portal and put on his best smile as soon as he got the message from Sci. Time to be his Sunday best again.

"How did it go?", Dream asked as soon as he got trough the portal.  
"Surgery went without problems. It might take some time for him to wake up though."  
"Is he stable enough to go trough a portal?"  
"Yes, you can take him home."  
"Thank you", Dream said, while picking up Ink and forming a portal, "for everything." And then he left.

Ink took his sweet time waking up, so Dream was left staring at the others sleeping form. If he believed in any gods he might have found himself praying but he knew there weren't any. He though about leaving more than once but he said he'd be there, so he would stay.  
After hours Ink woke up slowly.  
"Ink", Dream tried his best, not to sound too hopeful. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but he was.  
"Dream? Where... ?"  
"We're in your room in the doodlesphere."  
"You brought me home?"  
"I did."  
Silence. It was unbearable for Dream. He needed answers. Now.  
"So, Ink... The surgery was a success. Leaves only one question. What do you feel?"  
"Dream, I ..."

**Author's Note:**

> Cliffhanger, yay \o/  
> What do you think Ink told Dream at the end? Let me know! 
> 
> Heh, congrats, you made it to the end.  
> Just let me know you were here? Write hi or something so I feel like someone actually read this?  
> Critique is appreciated!
> 
>  **Edit:** I (hopefully) managed to correct most of my spelling errors by finally finding the english language pack for my program! Do tell me if you still find any errors though!


End file.
